Author: NLM Correspondent

COMPARISONS with dark chapters in Jewish history tend to elicit the kneejerk Israeli response of asur le’hashvot, the Hebrew for “you can’t compare”. But a government plan to deport more than 34,000 African migrants to Rwanda is provoking more hand-wringing than usual, not least because Israel itself was created by refugees and survivors of the Holocaust. The government has proposed a plan to offer financial incentives including the payment of $3,500 (Sh350,000) to African migrants who agree to leave Israel “voluntarily” and go to Rwanda or Uganda. It said that those who do not agree to leave may be expelled…

AFRICA has been invaded on quiet wings. First they landed by ship in the west. Then they spread across the continent, wreaking havoc as they went. Now, two years later, the invaders are worrying officials in almost every sub-Saharan country. It’s not the French, British or even the Chinese. This time it’s a simple American moth, the voracious fall armyworm, which has marched through Africa’s fields and is threatening to cause a food crisis. When just a hungry caterpillar, the fall armyworm will happily munch on more than 80 plant species. But its favourite is maize—the staple for more than…

The two men were political allies. But they had a falling out over the direction of newly independent Kenya — especially over land and power — and became bitter adversaries. Now their sons are fighting a modern adaptation of the same battle as they vie to lead the country, pushing one of Africa’s youngest and most vibrant democracies to the brink of a constitutional crisis. “History is not exactly repeating itself,” says Maina Kiai, a human rights lawyer in Kenya, describing the eerie political parallels between past and present, “but it certainly is rhyming.” Politically, Kenya is deeply — and…

By Peter Mukora I would like to offer a rebuttal to Kenyatta Otieno’s article in the January issue, titled A Luo problem, or a problem with the Luo? ​I am a proud Kenyan who has worked hard for everything I have and own. I have many friends, from across the many tribes of Kenya, some known from high school in Kanunga, Kiambu – a school whose head back then was a Luo man from Homa Bay, for whom we demonstrated when the ministry of education attempted to transfer him from Kiambu to Baringo. Broderick Ogange was loved by all students and feared in…

By Kenyatta Otieno Public universities have begun implementing the Universities Act 2016 which amended some clauses to the original Act of 2012. The 2012 Act was enacted by parliament to align our institutions of higher learning to the realities of the 2010 Constitution. The bone of contention is the sneaking into the Act clauses on how student unions should hold their elections and run office. I want to draw on my experience as a student leader in my day, to explain current realities. In 2000 when I was suspended from the University of Nairobi as part of SONU executive Committee,…

Weah, Drogba to partner with Macron in football initiative Liberia’s president, ex-football star, George Weah, joined fellow African football great Didier Drogba and emerging French youngster Kylian Mbappe in Paris to launch a platform that will support sport in Africa. Hosted by French president, Emmanuel Macron, the three great strikers committed themselves to supporting the French initiative. Sport can be “a strong and dynamic vector for Africa”, stressed the French Head of State at the end of a luncheon which also brought together the presidents of the French Football Federation (FFF) Noël Le Graët and the Fifa Gianni Infantino. Macron…

The International Monetary Fund has warned that Kenya debt is approaching the unsustainable levels following the rate at which new loans are being contracted. Jan Mikkelsen, the resident representative to Kenya said IMF is concerned about high fiscal deficit. “This is not good to sustain the economy. It will force the government to finance its deficit through commercial borrowing hence squeezing out lending to private sector,” said Mikkelsen. Private sector He told the Budget and Appropriations Committee that reducing the budget deficit will allow more resources to go to private sector since the government will demand less in borrowing from…

Last month, a curious story was in the papers: a section of Jubilee-allied MPs declined to attend a Parliamentary Group Meeting convened by the President at State House. Apparently, the MPs boycotted the meeting because of its nature, which they described as “a lecture”. The President, they lamented, had begun to treat them like children, to whom he reads the riot act whenever and wherever he feels like it. The real reason, one MP told us, is because Parliament, where the President’s party enjoys majority, is having a difficult time processing some of the events that have happened recently, and…

Last month we reported that KRA Commissioner-General John Njiraini was given a rolling contract by his board. What we did not report is how that contract was approved. Because of a continuing court case challenging Njiraini’s new contract – and suitability to continue heading the KRA – the board called a meeting to discuss a way forward, including appointing an acting head as replacement was sought. As the meeting progressed, in a classic example of just how infiltrated strategic institutions are, a board member opposed to the agenda of the day made a call and, after speaking briefly to explain…

Who was it that said, “Just because you don’t take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics wants nothing to do with you”? Right, everyone. It is a little too early to begin making political predictions or create talk of politico-ethnic marriages, but there are indications that is exactly the talk some people want advanced. There was a “swearing in”, and whether that was for real – as the millennials say – or simply a statement depends on your political leaning. What that singular event did that we can all agree on is that it made Raila Odinga a sort…